the dawn of amateur radio in the u[1].k.(收音机雏形的诞生)-第22节
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desk and was able to turn off the microphone in a split second if it ever
became necessary。 During the three and a half years of the broadcasts this
was done only on one special occasion and certainly not because the
newsreader had gone berserk or something like that。 The Chief Censor
was Professor Eric Sloman who had been the first Director of the Police
Academy in Kerkyra （Corfu）。 Then there were censors for the eleven
languages used in these broadcasts。 The censor for the Polish broadcasts
was the Countess Walevska； grand…daughter of Napoleon's lady friend。
The Countess was a rather large lumbering woman who always came into
the studio carrying lots of parcels。 One evening she came in and sat in an
armchair on the other side of the studio to wait her turn for the Polish
broadcast which followed the Greek。 As I was reading the news bulletin I
suddenly became conscious of a regular ticking noise in the headphones I
was wearing。 I made a sign to Mr Joly who was acting as switch censor at
the time； and he got up and walked over to the Countess。 He whispered in
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her ear and asked her what was in her hand bag。 The Countess blushed and
replied that she had just collected her alarm clock from the watchmaker。 I
don't know if any sharp…eared listener had heard the ticking and thought
that we had a time bomb in the studio。
〃Having mentioned my good friend Mr Norman Joly I must record
that he was the technical supervisor for the foreign language broadcasts；
handling such things as wavelengths for the short wave relays； training the
newsreaders （of whom there must have been over 30） and acting as studio
manager and switch censor for some of the languages which he knew。
〃A regular broadcaster in our studio was Francis Noel…Baker who
later became a Labour member of Parliament in the British House of
Commons； like his father。 The Noel…Baker family are well…known in
Greece because for several generations they have owned a large property
on the island of Euboea （Evia in Greek）。 Francis speaks fluent Greek； and
his mother was related to Lord Byron。 In recent years he has switched his
allegiance to the Conservative Party led by his personal friend Margaret
Thatcher。
〃Major Patrick Leigh…Fermor the writer who had kidnapped Major…
General Heinrich Kreipe in Crete and spirited him away to Allied
headquarters in Cairo； came to our studio and described how this
audacious operation had been carried out by him and Captain William
Stanley Moss； ex…Coldstream Guards； with the considerable assistance of
the Cretan resistance movement partisans。
〃Purely by coincidence； it was the Greek news bulletin from Cairo
which first announced to the world General Montgomery's victory over
General Rommel at Alamein。 I must explain that during a broadcast the
two doors leading into the studio were kept closed and an armed officer of
the Military Police sat outside （in civilian clothes） to prevent anyone from
entering for any reason whatsoever。 I was in the middle of reading the
news when suddenly； without warning； the inner door opened and a young
despatch…rider； still wearing his crash helmet； walked in waving a piece of
paper。 Mr Joly immediately switched off the microphone and asked the
young man what he thought he was doing。 'Most Immediate sir'； he said。
（This is the army's highest priority classification。） 'To be broadcast at
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once。'
〃Mr Joly handed the document to me and I saw it was written in
English。 Taking a deep breath I began translating the text into Greek； with
some excitement and trepidation owing to the difference in syntax
between the two languages。 Forty…six years later Mr Joly gave me the
identical sheet of paper； which he had kept as a souvenir。 It is printed here
in full。 At the Editorial offices； where they were monitoring the newscast；
they thought I had gone out of my mind； because the communique had not
reached them yet。 When they tuned in to the short wave service of the
B。B。C。 they heard the communique read out more than an hour after our
Greek broadcast。 A world scoop； if ever there was one。 Years later when I
returned to Athens； many of my friends told me they had heard the first
broadcast of the thrilling bulletin and they could still remember the
excitement in my voice。
〃The Greek section was the first to inaugurate the transmission of
personal messages。 Many people were escaping from occupied Greece in
sailing boats across to the shores of Asia Minor； ending up in the Middle
East； mostly in Cairo。 They had no means of advising their relatives and
friends in Greece that they had survived the perilous journey。 We used to
broadcast pre…arranged messages like 'John informs Mary that he has
arrived at the village'。
〃As I mentioned above； George Papandreou came to our studio and
spoke to the people in Greece about the formation of the government of
National Unity； which had been agreed by all parties meeting in the
Lebanon； including the representatives of the Partisans operating in the
mountains of Greece。 Papandreou and the government in exile moved to
Naples in Italy for a short period and then returned to Athens on October
12th 1944 for the Liberation。
〃Finally； I would like to say that in the dark days before
Montgomery's breakthrough at Alamein； when it was quite on the cards
that General Rommel might take Cairo； Mr Joly and I were sent to
Jerusalem to make arrangements for the foreign language broadcasts to be
continued from there。 Fortunately the situation changed and we were
recalled to Cairo； where we arrived just in time for me to broadcast the
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historic communique announcing the victory at Alamein； which marked
the turning point of the war in the Middle East。
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The dawn of amateur radio in the U。K。 and Greece ： a personal view
CHAPTER NINE
MISCELLANY
1。 The first broadcasting stations of the world。
Speech was first transmitted for reception by the general public from
Washington D。C。 in 1915 when Europe was still at war。 During 1916 the
first ‘broadcasting' station in the world began regular transmissions from a
New York suburb。
In 1919 Dr。 Frank Conrad； then Assistant Chief Engineer of the
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company； set up； in his own
garage in Wilkinsburg； Pennsylvania； a 75…watt transmitter （8XK） from
which he broadcast musical entertainment for other radio enthusiasts。 This
was the first continued scheduled broadcasting in history。 The
Westinghouse Company realised the potential value of Conrad's work and
built KDKA； the first regular commercial broadcasting station in the world；
which began its career by announcing the results of the Harding…Cox
election returns on the November 2nd 1920。
The first broadcasting station in Europe was PCGG which began
transmitting on November 6th 1919 from the Hague in Holland。 Hanso
Steringa Idzerda； a 35 year old engineer； obtained the first licence granted
in Europe for the transmission of music and speech for general reception；
as opposed to the wireless telegraphy stations which had been operating
point to point services。 From the end of 1919 to 1924 this station
transmitted a series of musical programmes three times a week called ‘The
Hague Concerts'。 The original wavelength of 670 metres
